Trade ministers comments on the arrest of Telenor's shares

- I am very disappointed to receive the news that an arrest has been made in Telenor’s shares in VimpelCom. This is a demanding situation. This is in our view currently the most pressing issue in Norway’s bilateral relationship with Russia, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry Ms Sylvia Brustad said during a press briefing this afternoon.

She underlined that her main concern now is to help safeguard Telenor’s investments in Russia while the legal process has still not been fully concluded:

- I have already requested a telephone conversation with my Russian counterpart, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov.

Ms Brustad added that a forced sale of Telenor’s shares would send very negative signals regarding the level of legal protection for foreign investors in Russia:

- We will use all available channels in order to assist Telenor. We are currently in a critical phase, and I stay in close contact with the Prime minister Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Støre.